Speaker Pema Jungney delivering the statement of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile on the 29th anniversary of conferment of the Nobel Peace Prize on His Holiness the Dalai Lama, 10 December 2018. TPI/Tenzin Dhargyal

President Dr Lobsang Sangay with guests during the 29th Anniversary of Conferment of the Nobel Peace Prize on His Holiness the Great 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, in Dharamshala, India, on December 10, 2018. Photo: TPI/Tenzin Dhargyal

President Dr Lobsang Sangay delivering the statement of Kashag on the 29th Anniversary of Conferment of the Nobel Peace Prize on His Holiness the Great 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, December 10, 2018. Photo: CTA/DIIR

Representative Tashi Phuntsok at the Breakfast discussion on Tibet with Deputy Tutu Picard, President of Tibet Group in the French National Assembly, Senator Andre Gattolin, Vice President of Tibet Group in the French Senate, Deputy Michele de Vancouleur, Deputy Florence Grenjus and Ms Katia Buffetrille, 5 December 2018. Photo/Bureau du Tibet

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Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam who started the DIFF speaking at Upper TCV School in Dharamshala, India. The festival ended with the closing night screening of Aijaz Khan's 'Hamid' at the Hermann Gmeiner Auditorium. photo: TPI

President Dr Lobsang Sangay with the Thank You India Souvenir – A Dharmachakra representing the wheel of Universal Truth, at the press conference at Press Club of India on January 18, 2018. Photo: CTA/DIIR/Tenzin Phende

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His Holiness holding a portrait presented to him by a student before his talk on compassion at Guru Nanak College of Arts, Science & Commerce in Mumbai, India on December 13, 2018. Photo: Lobsang Tsering

His Holiness the Dalai Lama greeting Indian high school students and their teachers as he arrives for their meeting at his residence in Dharamsala, HP, India on October 30, 2018. Photo by Ven Tenzin Jamphel

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Swiss authorities had limited the duration of the protest in the centre of Bern to two hours before noon (1100 GMT) to avoid the kind of confrontation that marked the last visit by a Chinese president 18 years ago.

Several people near a security zone set up for the state visit failed to comply with police instructions, Bern cantonal police said in a statement.

"Thirty-two people were detained to secure safety," a spokesman said.

At noon, police prevented a man from setting himself on fire, according to the statement. The man was taken care of by doctors.

Fourteen activists were detained near the Swiss parliament building in the afternoon as they continued to protest past the time restriction, waving posters saying "Free Tibet" and "Don't Deal With Killers", the association of Tibetan Youth in Europe said.

"The situation inside Tibet is getting worse day by day. Our people are being oppressed, our people are being imprisoned," the association's spokeswoman Migmar Dhakyel said.

"We are really concerned (about) how our government, our own government treats us, doesn't permit us to demonstrate."

Between 700 and 800 Tibetans and Swiss had gathered in the city centre and protested peacefully against the Tibet policies of China, Tenzin Nyingbu, president of the Tibetan Community in Switzerland & Liechtenstein, told Reuters.

Most of them left before noon as agreed with Bern municipal security, Nyingbu said.

The Chinese leader arrived in the Swiss capital for a gala dinner on Sunday afternoon. After holding talks with Swiss officials on Monday, he will attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday, a first for a Chinese president.

In 1999, demonstrators took to roofs overlooking the Swiss parliament with banners demanding "Free Tibet" during a visit by China's then-president Jiang Zemin.

Police intervened when people tried to throw eggs at the Chinese delegation. Jiang questioned Swiss leaders' control over their country and remarked that they risked "losing a good friend".

China and Switzerland forged a free trade agreement in 2014 and Swiss companies count China among their most important markets.

Tibet was invaded by Communist China in 1949. Since that time, over 1.2 million out of 6 million Tibetans have been killed, over 6000 monasteries have been destroyed— the acts of murder, rape and arbitrary imprisonment, torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment were inflicted on the Tibetans inside Tibet, Beijing calls a "peaceful liberation".